Cardiac surgeon shot at Boston hospital dies

Medical personnel walk past law enforcement officials, right, as they depart the Shapiro building at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, in Boston on Tuesday.(Photo: Steven Senne, AP) BOSTON (AP) — Administrators and staff at a leading Boston hospital are mourning the death of a cardiac surgeon who was fatally shot at the hospital by a man who then killed himself. A churchgoing Army veteran and father of four who lovingly penned his mother’s obituary two months ago apparently “snapped” yesterday when he spirited a gun into Brigham and Women’s Hospital and fatally shot the heart surgeon who had operated on her, according to the suspect’s sister. “Everything seemed to be going really well.

The violence is mostly in the rural provinces, but the danger is everywhere: There were nearly 30 attacks on clinicians at the average Chinese hospital in 2012. Davidson was then shot twice in the chest and died hours later; Pasceri’s body was found in an examination room. “It’s leading us to believe that there was something in the past that upset this guy, and he came in looking for this particular doctor,” said Boston Police Chief William Evans, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Walsh said he was “deeply saddened” by Davidson’s death. “This tragedy is the result of a senseless act of violence that has no place in our City,” he said in a statement early Wednesday. Yes, there are shootings — too many shootings, about 15 a year — on hospital campuses, as doctors and nurses sometimes get caught in the crossfire. He stated at the time, “There is no better way to commemorate a birthday, run the marathon to achieve a personal goal and, in the process, support Team Brigham and its mission to help so many people.” He was part of the remarkable team that performed the hospital’s first tricuspid “valve-in-valve” procedure and was involved in establishing the hybrid OR at BWH, once of the most advanced operating rooms in the country. Let us honor our dear colleague’s memory and legacy by treating each other with kindness and providing the best possible care to those who come to us in need. Donald Desorcy said Pasceri had no criminal background he was aware of, and called the Pasceris a “well-respected family,” active in the Millbury Federated Church.

One problem is that hospitals — in the world that existed before Michael Davidson was gunned down on Tuesday, at least — generally don’t want them. An official who almost didn’t get the job because he dared to suggest that gun violence is a public health issue. (An opinion shared by many medical professionals.) Instead, hospitals will likely focus on teaching their workers how to survive a shooting.